Staff Systems Engineer

TheIncLab•Colorado Springs, CO

10h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Staff Systems Engineer is a senior hands-on technical leadership role responsible for designing, implementing, and evolving complex software and platform systems. This position will operate across cloud infrastructure, developer platforms, security controls, and application teams, serving as both a deep technical contributor and an architectural leader. The ideal candidate is a doer with architectural judgment: someone who can design systems, write code and infrastructure, lead proofs of concept, and gradually take ownership of technical roadmaps and mentoring as the organization grows.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
8+ years of professional experience designing and delivering complex software or platform systems.
Strong experience with cloud-native architectures and distributed systems.
Hands-on experience with: Cloud platforms (AWS preferred) , Containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Helm, similar)
Experience designing systems with security, compliance, and operational constraints.
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineers, leadership, and customers.
Applicants must be a U.S. Citizen and willing and eligible to obtain a U.S. Security Clearance at the Secret or Top-Secret level.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
Experience supporting Department of Defense or other regulated environments.
Familiarity with DevSecOps practices, CI/CD platforms (e.g., GitLab), and automated security tooling.
Experience with database platforms (PostgreSQL/PostGIS, managed or self-hosted).
Experience mentoring senior engineers or leading technical initiatives across teams.
GIS, geospatial, or data-intensive system experience is a plus.
Existing clearance is preferred.

Responsibilities

Design and implement system architectures spanning cloud infrastructure, platforms, and applications.
Translate mission, security, and operational requirements into practical technical designs.
Develop and maintain reference architectures, design patterns, and system blueprints.
Evaluate architectural tradeoffs involving scalability, reliability, security, and cost.
Support architecture reviews and guide teams toward sustainable system designs.
Build and operate cloud-native systems using infrastructure-as-code and automation.
Develop prototypes and proofs of concept to validate architectural approaches.
Contribute directly to complex implementations when systems cross team or domain boundaries.
Troubleshoot and resolve high-impact production and integration issues.
Support database and platform-level concerns in partnership with cloud and data engineers.
Collaborate with Cloud Engineering and Build Platform teams to define secure, scalable platforms.
Help establish guardrails, golden paths, and secure-by-default patterns.
Integrate security, compliance, and observability requirements into system designs.
Partner with ISSOs to translate policy and RMF controls into implementable solutions.
Serve as a technical mentor and force multiplier for engineers across teams.
Influence technical roadmaps and platform evolution.
Participate in building the long-term architecture and platform function, with growth toward Principal-level scope as the team expands.